Family Tree: Bent Or Broken
by Scarlett S.R.C
Summary: Natalie was never close with her half-brother Nathan or her half-brother Lucas, but everything changes when she moves to Tree Hill and finds herself playing Switzerland as everything changes. But with all the change, Natalie must ask herself one question; is it for the better or worse?
1. All That You Can't Leave Behind

Summary: Natalie was never close with her half-brother Nathan or her half-brother Lucas, but everything changes when she moves to Tree Hill and finds herself playing Switzerland as everything changes. But with all the change, Natalie must ask herself one question; is it for the better or worse?

Natalie Keith Scott is portrayed by Emily Van Camp.

Joanna Patricia Rhodes is portrayed by Sarah Michelle Gellar.

Amanda Laura Rhodes is portrayed by Jennifer Love Hewitt

* * *

 **ALL THAT YOU CAN'T LEAVE BEHIND**

* * *

"Nat, is that you?" I heard my Aunt Amanda's voice call as I entered the front door of our house.

"Yeah!" I called back, clicking the lock in place before going to find her. I knew that she was most likely in the kitchen. "You won't believe how crappy my day at school w..." I trailed off when I entered the kitchen and saw not one person inside, but two.

Amanda gave me a smile as she sat her coffee cup down on the island before gesturing to her guest. "Look who stopped by." The guest turned around and I grinned when I saw who it was.

"Uncle Keith!" I rushed forward and he got up from his seat just in time to wrap his arms around me and pull me from the ground in a hug.

Uncle Keith was basically the only male role model I had in my life. Amanda was a lesbian and my mother had no time for anything other than work, meaning I had no choice but to say goodbye to any dreams of a step-dad years ago, so I made do with Uncle Keith. He didn't have any kids of his own, technically, but he did a pretty good job at being a cool uncle. He had been there for my first steps, my first word (which had bee _'Keef'_ ), he taught me how to tie my shoes, how to fish and how to make a jump shot.

"Nattie, you got so big!" He said letting me down. "How tall are you now? 5'4? 5'5?"

"5'7." I said proudly. "And, look." I gave him a big toothy grin.

"You got your braces off?" I nodded.

"Two weeks ago." I said, once again, feeling very proud. "I figured; new town, new me. And speaking of new town, why are you here?" I asked. I was moving my hands a lot more than I should be. "You're not supposed to be here until tomorrow."

"Would you believe me if I said that I wanted to spend extra time with my favorite niece?"

I shook my head. "And I'm your only niece." That he knew of.

"Okay, you got me." He said, shoving his hands into his pockets. "I'm here to talk to your aunt about a few things, but it's no big deal."

I raised an eyebrow and looked from him to Amanda. "What is it?"

"It's nothing." She claimed, backing up Keith, but I crossed my arms. I would not be deterred and they both knew it. According to Keith, I got my stubbornness from my father, but I wasn't sure that was a good thing. "It's the house." Amanda said, giving up on not telling me. "It won't be finished for at least another month."

Confused? Well, my mother was some big time corporate woman- although I had no idea what her actual job was -and she spent most of her time working. In fact, I hadn't seen her since Valentines day...last year.

Anyway, for some reason she had come down with a case of Gilmore Girls and decided that she wanted to spend more time with me which- for some reason- meant that we had to move. Mom also claimed that she thought it'd be good for me to get to know my roots and stuff like that, so she bought a house in Tree Hill got some construction crew to start renovating it. That had been over six months ago and the house was supposed to be ready by this week. I wasn't complaining though; the less time I had to spend with my mother, the better. I wasn't ready for months of awkward silence.

"But I start school in three days." I reminded her and Amanda nodded.

"We know, Nat." Keith said. "So, Amanda and I have come up with a temporary fix."

"And that is...?"

"You're gonna go with Keith to Tree Hill." Amanda took over. I opened my mouth, but she stopped me. "You mom is gonna meet you there once the house is ready."

"Where am I going to stay, if not in the house?" I asked. I didn't like the way she and Keith exchanged looks. "Am I staying with you?" That wouldn't be too bad. Keith didn't seem like the most organized of people, but as long as I got my own room...

"No," Keith answered, confusing me. "You're gonna be staying with your brother." That also confused me.

"Which one?" I asked cautiously. "The one who lives with our dad or the one who doesn't live with our dad?"

Keith and mom shared another look. Please, please, please, don't be the one who- "You're gonna be staying with Nathan and your father." ...Crap.

I should explain.

To my knowledge, I have two brothers; one is older than me, the other is younger. I had met the both, only once in my entire life, but I knew which one I preferred.

Lucas Eugene Scott was my older brother by a month. I looked more like him; we both had blonde hair and our skin tone was around the same shade. I had met him once, when I was ten; Keith had brought him to my birthday party and introduced us. He hadn't known anyone there so he was, understandably, uncomfortable. He didn't talk to anybody except for Keith and the only time we really connected was when he had given me a birthday present, which had been my very first basketball. We talked about that for about half an hour before it was time to cut the cake and he was quiet again. Then he had started feeling bad after eating the cake and had to be taken home.

Nathan Royal Scott was my younger by a month and a half. The only thing we shared was our interest in basketball and our brown eyes. I had also met him only once; Aunt Amanda was going out of town with her then girlfriend Mariah when I was six so Dan, my dad, had volunteered me to stay with him. Keith had tried to tell my Amanda that it was a bad idea, but she was convinced I needed to bond with my father, although up to that point, I had been convinced that Keith was my father.

Anyway, Keith had been my ride from Alliance to Tree Hill and dropped me off at my fathers. After Keith left, I was left with Nathan and a teenage babysitter because Dan and Deb couldn't reschedule their date night. Nathan had gone up to his room and I went to the guest room. About an hour later, Nathan came into my room and started messing with me, I told him to stop, but he wouldn't. He ended up chasing me up onto the dresser when he kept coming towards me with his pet spider and I fell all the way to the ground. The end result; a broken arm and a broken tooth that caused a three year lisp because I was too young for the procedure to fix it.

The hospital had called my mother who called Amanda who called Keith and ordered him to get me and take me home since she and Mariah were now cutting their trip short. After getting a cast put on at the hospital, I was taken back to Alliance and Amanda refused to let me go to Tree Hill again without her, not that I wanted to. Nathan might've been my little brother, but I now had a ridiculous fear of spiders.

"Nope!"

"Nat, just list-"

"Nope!"

"It's not as bad as-"

"Nope!"

"He's older and more mature now."

"I wouldn't go that far."

"Keith, we're supposed to be convincing her to go! Remember?"

"Well, you can stop because I'm not going!"

"Natalie Ke-"

"Oh, don't you try to middle name me!"

We were upstairs now. Once they had said that I would be living with the reason I cried when we read Charlotte's Web in school, I had rushed up the stairs, but they were on my heels. Now I was in my room, but they couldn't follow me in because I had a lock on the door, but I could hear one of them trying to twist the knob.

"Nat, let us in." Amanda requested and I shook my head.

"Nope!" I said again. "I bet you really regret giving me that lock now."

"You are going to Tree Hill." Amanda said and I shook my head again.

"Wanna bet?"

* * *

"Welcome to Tree Hill." Keith said as I glared out of the window.

Since my Aunt Amanda was basically my mother, she forced me to go to Tree Hill with Keith, but I was resilient and managed to stall for another day claiming that I needed to decide what to take since I couldn't take everything. Keith had packed three of my many boxes into his truck before I gave Amanda a very tearful goodbye and we left. It hadn't been easy leaving her when I knew that it'd most likely be months before I saw her again. She had wanted to move to Tree Hill with my mom and me, but she had a work contract that stopped her from leaving the state.

Yeah, we were both bummed about it.

It took us four hours to get to Tree Hill, so by the time we arrived at Dan's house, it was dark outside. There were three different cars in the long driveway and only two lights were on inside of the house. The rest of it was dark.

"Are you coming in?" I asked Keith while he was pulling one of my boxes out the back of the truck.

"I can't." He said as we walked up the short walkway to the front door. "But I'll see you tomorrow after school, I promise."

Luckily for me, no one was home except for the maid who showed me up to the guest room. She told me that Dan was at work, his wife was out of town and Nathan probably wouldn't be home until late. I decided to take advantage of the time I would get before the awkward introductions and made myself something to eat in the kitchen and took it up to my bedroom before going to bed.

When I woke up, the plate that I had brought up the night before was gone, so I figured Gail, the maid, had taken it from the room while I was asleep.

The last thing I wanted was to leave the room and go downstairs. I didn't want to see Dan or Deb and especially not Nathan. I felt uncomfortable around these strangers and I didn't like that. I had never felt so out of place in my entire life. I knew that I had the choice to simply stay in the bedroom until I had to pee or got hungry, but that wasn't me. I refused to become a recluse because of these people.

"Why couldn't I just stay with Keith?" I asked myself before leaving the room.

When I got downstairs and into the kitchen, I was kind of hoping that everyone had gone to wherever they needed to go.

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

Dan and Deb were both in the kitchen. Deb was washing the dishes while Dan stood at the island wearing workout clothing that was covered in sweat while he made, what I could only guess was, a protein shake in the blender. They both looked the same from when I had seen them last, just with a few more wrinkles and shorter hair for Deb. Deciding that I did want to be a recluse rather than be around my step-family, I went to go back upstairs, but Deb spotted me before I could even turn around.

"Natalie?" She asked and I stopped in my tracks before looking at her. She looked happier than most people would be about seeing their husband's love child.

"Hi." Was my ridiculous response as she turned off the water in the sink and came to me around the island.

"Look how big you got." She said standing in front of me. "You were like a baby bird the last time I saw you." Thank you?... "How's your mother?"

"I wouldn't know." I said, sounding a bit more snippy than I intended to.

Deb seemed to get the message I didn't mean tot send and let go of me before she went back to the sink to get a rag. "Are you hungry?" She asked. "I can make you something."

"Do you have coffee?" She looked around before finally spotting -and pointing out- the full coffee pot that sat in the coffee maker on the counter.

"Cups are in the cabinet." She informed me, but I shook my head. This was embarrassing.

"I uh..." I coughed. "I actually have my own upstairs." And before either of them could comment I rushed out of the kitchen and back upstairs to the guest room. In my duffel bag that sat on the small love seat pushed under the window was my handy mug which was a simple white one with pineapples painted on it. It had been one of the few things left behind by the previous owners of our house and I had been drinking from it religiously since I found it at age five.

Quickly going back downstairs, I entered the kitchen to find that Deb and Dan were no longer alone.

He was a lot bigger than the last time I had seen him. When we were kids he had been half a foot shorter than me, but now he had that over me and he had grown out his hair from the buzz cut he used to sport.

He held a newspaper in his hand and was reading aloud to his parents.

" _Who would've known that Dan Scott's basketball pedigree would be inherited by his two sons; Nathan Scott ans Lucas?_ " He tossed the newspaper down and Dan hastily picked it up.

"You gotta be kidding me." He didn't sound happy about that.

"That's great, dad." Nathan commented. "We're all one big happy family now." Dan looked up from the newspaper he was so focused on and glared at him.

"Watch it." He warned and I quickly moved out of sight when Deb looked toward the kitchen doorway. "I wonder what they're paying these reporters to support his crack habit."

"How 'bout you just eat your breakfast?" I heard Deb ask, but Dan must've declined.

"I lost my appetite." He confirmed me thought.

"Dan, the boy exists." Deb continued. "He's on the team, it's not like it's headline news." What the hell did that mean? Did Dan and Nathan not like Lucas for some reason? He had been nice enough when I met him, but- to be fair- that had been over six years ago. He could've been a massive tool now, but I doubted that. Whenever Keith talked about Lucas, he only had good things to say.

"No, Deb. Apparently it is."

"Well, how do you think Karen and Lucas felt about it?" Deb shot back.

"Alright," Nathan said and I could hear his voice getting closer to the doorway. I was gonna have to go into the kitchen or escape upstairs unless I wanted him to catch me eavesdropping. "I'm gonna leave if you guys are gonna argue." I had made my choice.

"Found my mug!" I announced as I turned and entered the kitchen. They all immediately stopped their conversation and I got a very confused look from Nathan.

"Who's this?" He asked looking back at Dan. His mother gave him a look.

"Your sister." He looked even more confused.

"I have a sister?" I decided to speak up.

"Yeah," I confirmed, regaining his attention. "And she can talk and everything. Isn't that amazing?" I moved past him to the coffee pot and he looked at Dan.

"We've been talking about her coming to stay with us for the past week." What? Amanda knew for a week that I'd have to stay with Dan and she chose to tell me two days before I was leaving? What the hell?

"I-I can't handle this right now." Nathan said as I filled up my cup.

"Your breakfast." Deb stepped forward holding out a plate, but Nathan shook his head. I put the coffee pot back and turned to see he walking towards the doorway.

"I'll just grab something at school with my _brother_." He spat before leaving. Only a few seconds later I heard the door slam and I looked to Deb and Dan.

"Someone's cranky." I commented before taking a sip of my coffee and leaving the kitchen. I really didn't want to drink my coffee without cream or sugar, but I also didn't want to ruin the comedic exit I had made by going back.

I didn't have to go to school for the rest of the week once I realized that my first day was technically Saturday, so I spent the rest of the day in my room drinking my disgustingly pure black coffee and listening to music. I didn't have much else to do so I drew- very badly- and checked in with my aunt via Email since she wasn't answering her phone before going to bed.

* * *

The next day I decided to go and take a look around town.

I hadn't been in Tree Hill since my failed attempt at bonding time with Dan all those years ago, so I didn't really know much about it. I did, however, remember to leave a note for Deb on the fridge to tell her I was gone. There was a hug chance of me getting back, but I decided the risk wasn't that great.

After three hours of walking around I found myself at a small diner called Karen's Cafe and decided to go inside. It was four and I hadn't gotten my morning coffee, so I figured now was as good of a time as any to get it.

"Is this your first time here?" A voice asked once I was seated at the bar and I looked to see a girl. She was around my age with a ponytail of brown hair and matching brown eyes. The half-apron she wore and the fact that she was behind the counter told me she worked there.

"How could you tell?"

"Because I know everyone who has ever come in here and most of them are regulars." She answered. "I'm Haley."

"Nat." I introduced. "And, to answer your question, I just moved here from Alliance and I'm trying to get reacquainted with the town." She raised an eyebrow.

"Reacquainted?"

I nodded. "I was born here, but I moved away. I just got back yesterday." Haley smiled at me.

"Well, Nat." She began. "To celebrate your return home, how about a free cup of coffee?" Well, I wasn't going to decline.

"Thank you." While Haley made my coffee a few feet away, I tapped my fingers on the bar with nothing else to do until I spotted a newspaper on the seat next to me. I, by no means, was a newspaper type of person, but I was bored and my phone was dead.

The newspaper was from yesterday which made me immediately search for the article about Dan, Nathan and Lucas. I was halfway done with it when Haley got my attention.

"Any milk or sugar?" She asked.

"Make it white." I answered as I set aside the newspaper. I mentally debated asking Haley what she knew about Lucas. The town wasn't small enough that everyone knew everyone, but Haley did say that she knew all the regulars. Lucas could've been one.

I decided to go for it. "Haley?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you know-" But I was interrupted by the electronic ringing of the landline. Haley held up a finger with an apologetic smile before going to answer it.

"Karen's Cafe." Haley said as a greeting when she answered the phone. "This is Haley speaking. How can I help you?"

"Uh, is Karen Roe there?" The voice on the other end asked. It was definitely a woman's voice.

"No, but she'll be back later." Haley answered as she searched for a pen. "Would you like to leave your name? I can let her call you back."

"Joanna." The woman replied. Haley had found a pen, but she couldn't find any paper so she ended up writing on her arm. "Joanna Rhodes." Before Haley could say anything else the woman hung up and she was left with a dial tone ringing in her ears. Putting the phone back on the receiver, Haley frowned before turning back to the bar.

"What were you-" Haley began, only to stop when she saw that the girl she had been talking to was no longer there. "Where'd she go?"

* * *

"I was wondering when you'd come by to see me." I grinned at Uncle Keith and he stepped back to let me into his apartment.

"Well," I said as he closed the door and I turned around to face him. "I was in the neighborhood and I figured I'd stop by and see my favorite uncle in the entire world and coming from a girl who has four uncles, that is quite the compliment." That's when I noticed that he had a bag in his hand and a jacket on. "Were you about to go somewhere?"

"Yeah," He admitted. "Father/son basketball game." I raised an eyebrow.

"Okay." I nodded. "So, where's this secret son you've hidden from me all these years?" Keith chuckled.

"I'm going with Lucas." He told me and I crossed my arms.

"Why isn't he playing with Dan and Nathan?" I asked, needing answers. "Do the teams need to be even or something?" Keith shook his head.

"Sometimes, I forget you're not from around here." He sighed. "Dan isn't really...in Lucas's life much." He told me. "He prefers to pretend he isn't there."

"See..." I stepped toward him. "I kind of got that when I overheard a conversation a few days ago, but my question is why?" I shook my head. "Dan doesn't ignore me; he sends me birthday gifts, he even called me once when I was nine-"

Keith cut me off. "It's...complicated." He said finally. "Who knows why Dan does what he does?" Keith looked at his watch. "The game starts in about half an hour. You can stay here if you don't want to go back to your dads." I scoffed.

"And miss the chance to see my favorite uncle in action? No way."

Keith drove us to the high school and I had to say that I was pretty impressed. There was no chain link fences or metal detectors in or outside of the school and the lunch room didn't double as a gym. So far it was a hundred times better than my old school.

"Go on and head into the gym." Keith instructed pointing over to the double doors that everyone was going through. "I'll see you after, okay?"

"'Kay." He kissed me on the head and left. I was just about to head into gym when I heard a familiar voice from behind me.

"Nat?" I turned around to see the girl from the cafe, Haley, coming towards me. "I thought that was you."

"Oh, hey, Haley." I said awkwardly. I wasn't expecting her to be here, but by the amount of people in the school, I had to guess that this was some of beloved town event. Of course she'd be here.

"I wasn't expecting to see you here." She said. Same.

I pointed behind me, although I was sure that Keith was out of sight. "I've got an uncle playing." She nodded.

"About earlier..." She began and I mentally groaned, hoping she would ask about it. "Did something happen? You kinda just disappeared like we weren't in the middle of a conversation."

I scratched the back of my neck. "Yeah, sorry about that." I apologized. "I had a family emergency."

"Oh, alright." She didn't seem like she believed me, but I also knew she wasn't going to call me out on it. She seemed way too nice for confrontation. "Well, I'm about to go in. Do you want to sit together? My date cancelled on me yesterday."

"Sure." I nodded and we fell into step together as we entered the gym. "So," I began. "This date of yours? Boyfriend?" She shook her head. "Girlfriend?"

"Best friend's mom." I nodded.

"Very hot." She laughed a bit and we took our seats on the third row up on the bleachers. They were just tall and long enough that the stands were packed, but everyone wasn't smashed together. "So, I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that your best friend is the one playing?"

Haley nodded. "Yep, and since you have an uncle playing, I'm going to guess that you're here to watch your cousin?" I shook my head.

"Unfortunately, you are wrong-amundo." I replied. "I'm here to watch my brother. He's playing with our uncle because our dad is a bigger ass then I apparently thought." Haley seemed confused, but she didn't question me.

Most of the players hadn't even arrived yet and the ones that had were just warming up. I didn't see Keith, so I assumed he was still in the locker room and I didn't feel like just sitting and watching the ones who were warming up. "Hey, Haley?" She looked away from whoever she was looking for and looked to me. "Is there anywhere to buy snacks or something?" She nodded.

"There's a concession stand a few feet right from the doors we came in through." I thanked her before getting up, making sure to leave my bag to save my seat, being walking down from the bleachers. I wasn't worried about Haley taking anything or looking in my bag, but even if she did I knew where she worked.

After buying a bag of popcorn and one of those hand held flags that had 'RAVENS' printed on it, I returned back to my seat next to Haley where- just as I figured it'd be- my bag sat untouched in the same position I left it.

"Popcorn?" I offered as I sat down and Haley didn't hesitate before digging her hand into the bag.

"Good timing." She said after shoving a handful of popcorn into her mouth. "The game's about to start." If only to confirm Haley's statement, some guy began talking from a speaker I couldn't see, but it was loud.

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Annual Tree Hill Raven Father/Son Charity basketball game." That's a mouthful. "Tonight, the fathers battle the sons and and the winners get bragging rights. "Coming soon tonight, Ravens son league MVP Nathan Scott!" Everyone clapped and I felt it was my sisterly duty to join them. "And for the father's, the all-time even scorer in the history of Tree Hill, and state championship runner-up, put your hands together for Dan Scott!" I hadn't known all that about him, but I clapped anyway along with everyone else, but I was still searching for Keith.

I, eventually, saw him on the fathers side of the court and I managed to catch his eyes. He sent me a little wave and I sent him one back.

The game started off well enough; while all the players were working to get good shots in, they were all focused on having fun too. I even saw one players from the sons team spinning the ball on his finger in front of Keith, but I didn't know who he was since he didn't have a name on the back of his jersey.

"Huh," I heard Haley let out and I looked over at her.

"What?"

"I guess my date did decide to come." I followed her line of sight until I saw her looking at a woman who sat on the bottom row of the bleachers. She was small, maybe the same size as Haley, with curly brown hair, but I couldn't see her face.

After about five or ten more minutes of playing, it was halftime and both the sons and the fathers left the court and the cheerleaders took their place.

Haley stood up. "I'll be back in a bit." She said before disappearing. I didn't have much else to do other than wait, so I went and made my way to where I saw Deb sitting.

"Hey." I greeted as I sat down beside her. She looked surprised to see me.

"I didn't know you were here."

"I went to see Keith," I told her. "But he was on his way here, so I caught a ride." She nodded, but I didn't want to fall into an awkward silence so I kept talking. "So do they do this every year?"

Deb nodded. "Yep, but it's usually just for the Sophomores. Some of the other grades are filling in since half of the team got suspended." I wonder how that happened?

"Which one is Lucas?" I asked and she looked at me strangely. "I've been looking, but the only Scott's I see are Nathan and Dan."

She shook her head as she went back to watching the cheerleaders. "I'm not sure." But I was sure she was lying. Soon enough, halftime was over and it was time for the second half of the game.

"You know," I began as we watched them play. "Nathan and Dan are really good. Do they play a lot together?" Deb scoffed.

"Only every second that Nathan isn't at school." She told me. "They both want Nathan to go pro, like your dad was supposed to."

"Why didn't he?" Deb raised an eyebrow at me, but didn't take her eyes off the game. "Go pro?"

"He...hurt himself." She answered, but I could tell that she was lying to me...again. "Pro's weren't an option after his injury." Seeing that Deb was no longer in the mood to talk, I turned my eyes back to the game. It was going well enough, Dan was getting a bit rougher than needed for a friendly game between fathers and sons. That when I started to realize that Dan was taking this a lot more seriously than anybody else.

I cannot explain to you how hard I flinched when Nathan jumped as he ran up to the basket, only to be knocked down to the ground when he collided with our father.

Deb popped right up as everyone seemed to automatically stop and turn towards the Scott duo. Dan just stood there as Nathan lay on the ground, struggling to get up...not that he was having any luck with that.

Despite the fact that Nathan had been a total douche the one time I had met him, he was still my brother and seeing him hurt wasn't exactly comforting. I was only a few seconds away from jumping down from the bleachers to see if he was okay when some blonde guy from the team- the one wearing no name on his jersey- helped Nathan up. Now that I could see his face, he looked really familiar.

In my pocket, I felt my phone begin to vibrate and I quickly took it out to see that my mother- of all people- was calling me. I got up and told Deb I'd only be a few minutes before exiting out into the hall. I could still hear some of the game going on inside, but I was mostly focused on hearing my mothers voice. I hadn't seen on spoken to her since Valentines day...last year. I wouldn't have been surprised if she forgot she had a kid, but that scar on her stomach wasn't gonna let her forget that easily.

Taking a deep breath I flipped open my phone and put it to my ear. "Mom?"

" _No,_ " The very nervous, very _male_ , voice on the other end of the call said. "T _his is Tyler, Ms. Rhodes personal assistant. Ms. Rhodes asked me to call and inform you, Miss Natalie Scott, that she will be unable to accompany you in Tree Hill, North Carolina next month._ " Are you kidding me? " _She has a very urgent business matter to take care of in Europe_."

"Well, what is it?" I asked, crossing one of my arms.

" _I'm sorry,_ " The nervous voice responded. " _It's personal_."

I narrowed my eyes. "I thought you said it was business?"

" _It is her own personal business_." I rolled my eyes, even if it was only to keep the tears welling in my eyes where they were. I knew Tyler the PA couldn't see me, but that didn't matter. " _She told me to tell you that she apologizes and that she will have the necessary documents sent over so that you will be able to live on your own once your living arrangements are-_ "

Unable to listen any longer, I hung up and quickly shoved my phone in my pocket before swiping at the un-shed tears in my eyes. Unfortunately, due to the salt and butter from the popcorn, that only caused them to tear back up.

After rushing into the bathroom and into the first stall inside, I quickly locked it before sitting myself down on the toilet.

If you couldn't tell, I have multiple- very conflicting- feelings and thoughts about my mother.

She had me when she was only seventeen years old and before that she always her nose stuck in a book due to her parents, so she never really got the chance to have fun. And as soon as I was old enough to travel, my mother took me and got on the first flight to Alliance to start college. As you already know, I was left with my aunt.

I was six when I realized that my mother wasn't mother material; after graduating college at twenty years old, she began renting an apartment in the city so she could be closer to work. Aunt Amanda thought it was a good idea for me to live with my mother now that she was no longer in college- or, at least, she thought that was a good idea until- on my first day of living with her- my mother left me at home, alone, the entire eight hours that she worked. She hadn't bothered to tell me that she was leaving, or even ask the woman next door to watch me. She just left. I went back to Aunt Amanda's the next day.

I was seven when I realized that, despite her being the un-motheriest mother a woman could be, that I still wanted her to be my mom. I was the only girl in the Bumblebee's (A group sort of like girl scouts) without a mother at the Bumblebee Mommy & Me Sleepover. One of the other girls at the sleepover noticed I didn't have a mother there with me so she said she'd share hers. I ended up sobbing in the bathroom until someone called my aunt to pick me up.

Despite the fact that I was nervous about living with her, I couldn't help but be excited too. I mean, for once I was going to know what it was like to have an actual mother- something I shouldn't have seen as a luxury, but I did.

While I was focusing on keeping my tears from falling, I failed to hear the bathroom door open, so I was pretty surprised when I heard someone call my name.

"Nat?" I stopped my sniffling when I heard Haley's voice from right outside my stall. "Nat, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I said very unconvincingly as I wiped at my eyes with the sleeve of my gray sweater.

"You don't sound fine." She informed me. "What's going on?" Well, if I was going to talk to someone about my problems, why not a stranger who won't hold it against me?

Taking a deep breath, I calmed myself down until I was confident enough in my ability to not start crying like a baby and then started. "It's my mom." I admitted. "We were supposed to move here together, but I just found out that she's in Europe and she's not going to be back for a while."

"I'm sorry, Nat." Thankfully, she didn't sound pitying.

I shrugged. "My mother has been disappointing me everyday of my life; something will make her remember she has a daughter and she'll call or text to make plans and take me out, just the two of us, but then..." I shook my head. "Then she'll just forget or there'd be some thing at work she'd have to take care of and, at the end of the day, I'm the one who's crying in my bedroom. She's...she's the worst mother in the world and I don't know why I expected anything to change."

Haley said nothing and, honestly, for a moment I thought she had left in the middle of my whining. After another moment of silence I heard her speak.

"I have four older brothers and three older sisters." Haley told me and that kind of sounded like my moms situation- except she only had two older sisters. "My parents, they're what you'd call...free spirits. I've always known that they love me and that they'd always be there for me, but with all my siblings around it wasn't hard for them to forget about me for a a moment or two. That used to depress the hell out of me, but then I found my best friend; it was just him and his mom so I kind of became his sister. After that, I never got a chance to be sad; he was always there for me and- although I doubted sometimes- my parents were too."

"You lost me."

"What I'm trying to say is..." She sighed. "Your mom loves you. All mothers love their children even if they don't say it or show it. Sure, she's going to let you down, but I should probably warn you that it's gonna be that way your entire life; you'll expect her to be one thing and she'll be another. You'll be sad- probably pissed, but eventually you'll get over it."

"Because she's my mom?" I questioned with a shake of my head.

"Exactly." She confirmed. "And just like all mother love their kids, all kids love their mothers...even if they're monumental disappointments."

"So, what you're saying is that I should buck up because life is full of disappointments?"

"Exactly." She repeated. "But that doesn't mean you have to let those disappointments rule your life." Realizing that she was right, I picked myself up from where I sat on the toilet and wiped my eyes- now appreciating my decision not to wear makeup- before unlocking the stall. Haley was leaned against the wall in front of it with an expecting look on her face.

"Thanks, Haley." She nodded.

"Anytime."

Haley and I left the bathroom and left the gym since the game was over and looked around for our respective basketball players. I eventually spotted Keith near the road, but he wasn't alone.

"You were so good." A small woman with curly dark brown hair complimented as she hugged Keith.

"You're a liar, but thank you." He smile before pulling back. That's when he seemed to notice me. "Natalie, get over here. There's someone I want you to meet." Doing as he said, I stepped on over and Keith pulled me into his said. "Nat, this is Karen. Karen this is Natalie."

"You're Joanna's daughter." I nodded. I knew exactly who Karen was, Keith never stopped talking about how wonderful she was.

"And you're Lucas's mom." I replied. "Have you seen him?" I asked looking around a bit. "I've been looking around for him ever since the game started, but I can't really figure out what face I'm looking for. I'm sure he's grown a lot since he was ten."

"He's two feet taller and finally let me give him a haircut. " She laughed before her eyes drifted behind me. "Oh, there he is now. Lucas!" She waved her hand a bit and I looked behind me to see the tall blonde kid from the game standing a few feet from the building with Haley. He had been the one with no name on the back of his jersey. How is it that I had seen him so many times but never once thought he could be my brother?

"Nat," Haley greeted and Karen looked between us.

"You two know each other?" I nodded.

"Uh, yeah." I told her. "Haley's the first person I met in Tree Hill that I didn't already know." My eyes flicked over to Lucas before they went back to Haley. "I'm guessing this is your friend."

Haley nodded before realizing that she had cut her friend out of the conversation. "Luke, this is Nat. Nate, this is my best friend Lucas."

"They already know each other." Karen put in and I could already tell that someone would get confused.

"What?" There it was. We haven't spoken a word to each other and Lucas was already confused. "I'm confused, I've never seen this girl in my life." See?

"Yes, you have." Karen told him. "Don't you remember? You went to her tenth birthday party in Alliance, but then yo had to come home early because you got sick? Remember?" Lucas looked at me and it seemed to click in his mind who I was.

"Natalie." I nodded.

"Wait!" Haley shook her head. "Now I'm confused. Somebody explain please."

"Haley this is Natalie Scott." Lucas introduced and Haley looked from him to me with wide eyes. "She's my younger sister."

"Natalie!" Hearing my name, I turned around to see Dan about twenty or so feet away. Deb and Nathan were heading towards their car. "Let's go."

"One second!" I called back before turning back to everyone. "Gotta run."

"Actually, we're all going to Karen's cafe for dinner." Keith told me. "Why don't you come with us?" I couldn't help but look back at Dan and saw him practically glaring a hole into Keith's head.

"Maybe next time." Is what I ended up saying before pulling Keith into a hug. "I'll see you later."

"Bye Nat." I let go and gave a small way of goodbye to everyone else before turning around and heading towards Dan. I don't know what the look on his face was about, but I figured that it'd be best if I just continued after Deb and Nathan.

* * *

After getting back to Dan's after the game, I took a shower. It wasn't until I had gotten dressed in something to sleep in that I decided that it'd be best if I started putting away my things. I knew that my stay at _Casa_ Scott was only temporary, but I was going to be here a month. I figured that I might as well make that month as comfortable as possible.

"Can I come in?" I looked towards the door and saw Nathan standing awkwardly in the doorway. He, too, was dressed in sleeping clothes and his hair was still wet. His large frame was hunched over and he had shoved his hands into his pockets. I didn't know why, but the pose didn't see to fit him or his cocky, arrogant personality.

"Sure." I went back to my suitcase and pulled out some of my shirts before going back to my dresser. "Did you need something?"

"Uh, no." He said. "I just, uh...wanted to..." Stopping what I was doing, I looked over and saw him still standing awkwardly, but he had stepped out of the doorway and into my room.

"Talk?" I suggested and he nodded. I was starting to realize that this wasn't exactly easy for him. According to all the information that I had on Dan since arriving in Tree Hill, I had found that he wasn't the guy I thought he was. Whenever I pictured my father, I saw Dan's face with Keith's personality; generous, loving, humorous, caring...it was a bit depressing to find that tat was ridiculously far from the truth. No wonder Nathan acted the way he did.

"Sit down." I sighed and he did as I said without question. Going over, I plopped down on the bed next to him. I was going to have to use my undiscovered power of being an older sister which sucked because I was barely a month older than him and had absolutely no idea what I was doing. "You know, when I was little, all I wanted was a brother." Nathan looked at me. "Every Christmas and birthday wish, shooting star or fallen eyelash...I wished that one day my mom would bring me a little brother, but it never happened. I met you when I was six and all it took was a couple of hours in the same house as you for me to realize that brothers suck." Nathan let out a small scoff, but I could see the smirk on his face. "And now- ten years later- I meet you again after not seeing you for so long and I was a bit...disappointed with what I got. I mean, I came here expecting to finally spend some time with my mother and maybe actually get to know my brothers and I got none of that. All I get is crap ton of abandonment issues from my mother and a father who I'm beginning to realize isn't what I thought he was."

"Dad isn't a good guy, Natalie." Was the first thing Nathan said. "He's an asshole and a bully and...sometimes I wish that he had just left my mom like he did Karen. I think that's why I'm such a dick to Lucas; he got raised by the good brother." I let out a humorless chuckle as I shook my head.

"How screwed up are we Scott's?" I asked. "Most kids are out there wishing that they're fathers were in our lives and here we are with the knowledge that we would've been better off without ours."

"I don't want to be a disappointment." Nathan told me and I looked over at him. "That's all I'll probably ever be to my dad, but I don't want to be that way with you...I want to be the brother you wished you had when you were a kid." With a sigh, I laid my head on Nathan's shoulder.

"I'm sorry Dan turned you into a dick."

"I'm sorry you gotta live with him."

Neither of us knew that Dan stood outside my bedroom door, out of sight and listening to every word we said.


	2. Every Night is Another Story

Thank you for the chapter one reviews, and thank you for waiting while I wrote my chapter. It wou

* * *

Every Night Is Another Story

* * *

All I can say is that being sick sucks.

It rarely rained in North Carolina- or, at least, no more than any other state. So, how is it that the one night I decide to have dinner with Karen, Keith and Lucas it ends up pouring?

And the worst part? It didn't start raining while I was inside the cafe or I would've just asked Keith for a ride. No, it decided to start raining while I was a three blocks away from Karen's cafe. I knew that they had most likely already left so I didn't bother going back. Instead, I just ran back to Dan's. I didn't feel to hot the next day, but I was still okay enough to go to school. I, however, was sent home when I sneezed right in some poor girls mouth during volleyball and then nearly died choking on her ridiculously strong perfume.

"Are you sure that you don't want us to stay?" Deb asked as she felt my forehead and I quickly shook my forehead.

"No," I coughed into my hand as I sat myself up on the couch. Normally, I would've just gone upstairs to my room, but Deb didn't want me going up and down and bunch of stairs every time I was hungry and she wasn't there to help out. Therefore, I was camping out in the living room. "You don't have to do that."

It was around seven and Deb and Dan were all dressed up and on their way to some business owners dinner thing. Nathan was gone at an away game, so I'd be home alone- not that I minded.

"Are you sure?" Deb asked again. "I'm sure your dad won't mind."

"I'm sure." I assured her. "It's just a little cold. It's not like I'm dying."

After a few more minutes of insisting that she could stay, Deb finally left with Dan and I was alone.

For the most part, I just watched TV until I got bored. Then I read...until I got bored. Then I watched TV again until I got bored.

Seeing a pattern here?

Deciding that I needed someone to entertain me, I got my phone from where it sat on the table and tried to call Haley until I remembered that my phone was destroyed from the rain that crippled me. I had even put the battery in rice earlier, but it still wouldn't come back on. My phone was officially gone, meaning I had no choice but to continue channel surfing until my boredom got so strong that I had to overcome my teenage laziness and trudge across the living room to get the house phone.

Once I got myself re-situated on the couch, I tried calling Haley, but she wasn't picking up so I called my Aunt Amanda instead only to find that she was, also, not picking up. I didn't exactly have friends in Alliance and there was no way in hell I was calling my mother after she had her man-boy PA call me to tell me she wasn't coming to Tree Hill instead of doing it herself and I knew that Keith was at some party with Karen, so I didn't have many options.

" _Hello?_ "

"Hey, little bro." Yes, I was calling Nathan. Sue me. "How's it going?"

" _Why are you calling me?_ " I scoffed.

"What?" I demanded. "A sister can't call to check up on her brother anymore?" He didn't say anything, but I could practically hear him rolling his eyes. "Anyway, how's the ride to Hickerington?" The Pickerington Pirates were not beloved in Tree Hill- or Alliance. I had been on the cheerleading team for only three days in Freshman year before our first away game with the basketball team to Pickerington where me and another girl on the team got jumped by a couple of cheerleaders. They ended up taking our cheerleading uniforms and we had to wear whatever we could find in the lost & found on the bus ride home. I quit the next day and joined the swim team where I was assured competing teams didn't have such sadistic tendencies.

" _I'm on a bus full of guys and the one behind me smells like he hasn't taken a shower in five days._ " He informed me with absolutely no emotion in his voice. " _How do you think it's going?_ "

"You remember when you asked me to tell you when you were being a dick?" I asked.

" _Yeah._ "

"You're being a dick." I told him as I grabbed the remote and switched the TV back on. And the cycle continues...

" _Sorry,_ " He apologized. " _The ride is fine_."

"Are you sitting with Lucas?" I asked. "I know he's on the bus."

Nathan scoffed. " _No, why would I do that?_ "

"Because you told me not even a few days ago that you didn't want to be a disappointment to me." I reminded him. "Lucas is my brother and he is your brother, so you guys need to start acting like like brothers- or, at the very least, like you don't hate each other."

" _But we do hate each other._ " Nathan pointed out. I made a face and I think he knew that because he sighed. " _I'm not moving._ "

"Fine, then give the phone to Lucas."

Nathan hadn't been expecting that. " _What?_ "

"Give the phone to Lucas." I repeated. "I need to talk to him." There was a moment or two of annoying shuffling noises before I finally heard Lucas's voice.

" _Hello?_ "

"Hello, favorite blonde brother of mine." I greeted. "Listen, I know you're not gonna like this, but I need you to do me a favor."

" _...Alright_." He sounded suspicious.

"I need you to sit next to Nathan for the rest of the way to Pickerington and on the trip back." I could practically hear him getting ready to protest. "And before you say anything, please just listen to what I have to say!"

It was quiet, but then I heard him sigh. " _Fine, what?_ "

"I know you don't like Nathan." I told him. "And I know that he's not exactly your biggest fan, but I need you to do this."

" _Nat-_ "

"Do you know how hard this is for me?" I asked suddenly. "I left the only home and only parent I've ever known to move here to Tree Hill with my mom and get to know the Scott half of my family and now...now my entire world's been flipped upside down; my mother's not even coming to Tree Hill, my dad's a dick who's turned my little brother into his carbon copy and you and Nathan can't even stand each other. This isn't exactly what I sighed up for when I agreed to move here and the least you and Nathan- my brothers- could do is try to get along for my sake."

It was quiet for a few moments before Lucas finally spoke. " _Are you trying to guilt trip me?_ "

"That depends; is it working?"

Lucas sighed once again and I knew I had him. Sure, I meant everything I said about Nathan and Lucas getting along, but I would settle for bus buddies...for now. " _Yes, it is._ "

"Give Nathan a kiss for me." I requested as I, once again, turned off the TV.

 _"Not a chance."_ Lucas snorted as he hung up and I did the same before letting the phone drop onto my lap. I wondered what they'd do; would they actually sit next to each other, or would they just agree to say they did?

 _'Either way,'_ I shrugged as I picked up the remote and turned the TV back on. ' _They're doing it together, right?'_

* * *

"So," I asked as I entered Nathan's room without even knocking. "How was the game?" I hadn't been awake when Nathan finally got back from the game and he managed to avoid me all Saturday and Sunday, but I still planned on asking him. I knew he wouldn't tell me unless I did and, even then, he might lie.

Nathan shrugged before pulling a gray shirt over his head "It was fine."

I plopped down onto his bed. "Really?" I inquired and he nodded. "Because that's not what Haley told me." I noticed Nathan tense for a moment, realizing he had been caught. "She told me that you threw a basketball at Lucas and then you two started fighting and got kicked out the game. Then she told me that you two got kicked off of the bus on the ride back home and she, Brooke and Peyton found you walking down the road, wearing each others clothes and drove you home. And, by the way, did you know that you sprained her ankle?"

"Look," Nathan turned around to grab his Letterman jacket from his desk chair. "It's not that big of a deal-"

"Not that big of a deal?" I repeated, standing up. "All I asked was that you sit next to Lucas. I didn't ask you to talk to him or even to make some sudden brotherly bond- only to sit next to the guy and you end up throwing basketballs and punches? Not the mention the fact that you could have broken Brooke's leg!" I barely knew the girl, only that she was Nathan's girlfriend's best friend, but she managed to make a...memorable impression that first time I met her. What did she do? I'd rather not say.

"Well, we didn't." Was Nathan's comeback. "And, despite the fact that you want us to, Lucas and I are not friends and we're not gonna suddenly start braiding each others hair and having sleepovers because you want us to." Nathan left the room, leaving me feeling like crap.

* * *

Later that day, while I was standing at my locker, still feeling like the worst sister in the world, I got ambushed by cheerleaders- well...one cheerleader.

"Girlie Scott," I would know that slightly raspy voice anywhere. Closing the door to my locker, I turned to see a brunette looking right at me with a little smirk on her face. I was sure that thing was permanent.

"Please don't call me that, Brooke." I requested, despite the fact that I was sure she wouldn't listen. I didn't think Brooke Davis knew my real name.

"So, Girlie Scott," Brooke continued and I sighed. Why did I even bother? "I need your help." Wasn't expecting that.

"With what?" Sure, I wasn't expecting her plea for help, but that didn't mean that I wasn't wary.

"Well, as you know, I'm the captain of the cheerleading team." She informed me. "And both of your brothers took part in the very not fun activity of spraining my ankle." My eyes flicked down to her legs to see that she was wearing heeled boots and they weren't thick heeled like the knee highs I wore. The heels were just a little thicker than stilettos.

"Nice boots."

"Thanks," She accepted. "My doctor says that if I wrap my ankle tightly every day, I should be fine by next week."

"That's great-"

"But!" Brooke interrupted. "I can't cheer. I can't practice and if the other girls practice without me, it'll throw them off when I join in after I'm all healed."

I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes a bit. I had an inkling of what she was going to ask, but I refused to jump to conclusions. "Is there a point this conversation?" I frowned. "Sorry, that came out snappier than I intended."

"Apology accepted, but if you really want to make it up to me, you can take my spot in cheer practice." I knew it.

"Absolutely not." I said immediately.

"Natali-"

"No way." I continued as I began walking down the hall and away from Brooke, but she followed after me. Her bum ankle wasn't keeping her from slowing down. "My brothers sins are their own. I barely even know them."

Brooke gaped at me. "You'd really throw your bros under the bus like that?" I scoffed.

"I'd trade their souls for a sack of potatoes if it meant I'd never have to see a pair of spanks again."

Seeing that I would not be guilted into doing what she wanted, Brooke tried another approach.

Quickening her pace, Brooke managed to get ahead and stopped right in front of me, blocking my path. I was slightly tempted to just walk the other way, but then I'd have to go around the entire school just to get to my class- plus, there was a difference between refusing to do Brooke's bidding and being rude.

Holding her hands out as if I would push right past her, Brooke gave me a pleading look. "Natalie, please. I need a stand-in and your the only girl I know other than Peyton who's not a backstabbing bitch."

I raised an eyebrow. "Brooke, you barely know me." I pointed out. "The first and only time we met, you called my jeans a _'fifty year setback for women everywhere'_ and then 'accidentally' spilled your bottle of water all over them."

"Okay, believe it or not, but that was an accident." Brooke claimed. "Bevin's a klutz and she accidentally bumped into me and my arm just knocked over the bottle. Either way, I'm sorry, but I do need you and, if it makes you feel better, your denim is great today." I looked down at the black denim skirt I wore; it was fraying at the hem that stopped an inch or two above my knees, but it was the only thing I could find that went well with my hooded sweatshirt and boots. "Plus, you're my best friend's boyfriend's sister. We're practically third cousins," I rolled my eyes but I couldn't keep the smile off my face as I listened to Brooke's ridiculous logic. "And third cousins help their third cousins in need, right?"

I was quiet for a moment, mostly to make Brooke sweat a bit, but I nodded. "Fine, I'll do it."

Brooke grinned. "You are amazing, Girlie Scott." I sighed at the nickname. "And I promise never to make fun of your mom jeans again."

So, after three hours of algebra, chemistry and world history, I made my way to the gym. I'd be missing my economics class for cheer practice, but my teacher said that I was excused as long as I did my classwork at home.

I didn't have any clothes of my own to practice in since I only had P.E. on Thursdays and it was only Monday, but Brooke was nice enough to lend me hers. The black sweatsuit fit well enough for me; I was a bit taller than Brooke, but it didn't seem to be a problem.

"Hey," Peyton greeted as I walked towards her. At the moment, both the cheerleaders and the basketball players were practicing in the gym, so there didn't seem to be any acknowledged spaces for either team. They all just stayed out of each others way. "What are you doing here?"

"Brooke managed to talk me into taking her place for cheer practice." I told her as I pulled my blonde hair into a ponytail. "Something about you being Nathan's girlfriend and third cousins."

"What?" Peyton laughed and I shrugged. I could barely remember Brooke's half-baked reasoning. "You do know that I'm not Nathan's girlfriend, right?"

"What?"

"Yeah," Peyton nodded. "We broke up a couple weeks ago. Brooke played you."

"That bitch." I breathed.

"Yeah, P. Sawyer can be a bitch, but she has her moments." Both Peyton and I turned to see Brooke coming towards us with a pair of blue and white pom poms.

I crossed my arms. "You lied to me." I accused and she sighed.

"Well, sweetie, I know I told you that I wouldn't make fun of your jeans anymore, but make me sad." I rolled my eyes.

"You said that Peyton was Nathan's girlfriend." I specified. Brooke nodded. "They broke up."

"How am I supposed to keep up with their relationship?" She demanded. "They're like Ross and Rachel with their never ending drama- except Rachel didn't have a thing for Monica."

I blinked. "Yeah, you lost me. Who's Monica in this situation?"

"Pretty Scott." I raised an eyebrow. "Lucas."

Looking away from Brooke, my eyes settled on Peyton who looked like she wanted to be anywhere other than where she was. "You have a hard on for my brother?"

"She's not the only one." I turned back to see Brooke grinning mischievously. You've got to be kidding me...

"I'm gonna be sick." I grimaced as I tried to walk away, but Brooke just grabbed my hand and pulled me back.

Practice, honestly, wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be; Brooke was a bit dictator-ish, but she managed to keep me from walking out. I, however, called it quits when they tried to sit me on the shoulders of a very frail looking cheerleader named Miranda. There was no flying involved, but that didn't stop me from falling on my ass when Miranda's knees buckled.

"You look rough." Was the first thing Haley said when I sat down next to her in English class. We only had one or two classes together and English happened to be one of them.

I gave her a half-hearted glare as more people began filing in. "Gee, thanks. You're a true friend."

"Sorry," Haley apologized and I sat my bag down. "What happened? I just saw you period before last and you were fine."

"Brooke Davis tricked me into taking her spot during cheer practice." I told her, running my hand through my hair and I grimaced when I realized it was still wet from my shower after practice. "She needs a replacement body for the next week until her ankle is better."

"That's nice of you-"

"That's idiotic of me." I corrected. "I didn't get a lot of sleep last night and I'm exhausted. I have my tryout for the swim team after school and, I don't know if you already know this, but falling asleep in the pool leads to drowning ninety-nine percent of the time."

Haley put a hand on my arm and rubbed. "You're a good friend...and so am I, which is why I'll run to Karen's during study hall and grab you some coffee."

I gave her a smile in thanks just as Lucas sat down in the seat behind Haley. Yes, he too had this class.

Once he sat down and put his bag on the floor, he gave Haley a smile before looking to me. "You look rough." My smile was replaced by a glower as I turned around to face the board. "What?"

* * *

Haley came through on her offer to bring me coffee and it helped me get through the rest of the day and my swim tryout. I did make the team, so my mood for the day improved exponentially and people noticed.

And by people, I mean Karen and Keith.

"What's got you so smiley?" She asked as I sat down at the bar next to my uncle.

In my last two weeks living in Tree Hill, I had to say that Karen was the person I got closest to other than Deb and Haley. She and my mom had, apparently, been best friends in high school even though Karen had been a year older and, because of that, Karen knew more about my mom than I did. It was a bit weird and kind of messed up that I was closer to my both my brothers mother than I was my own.

"I made the swim team." I informed them happily.

"Congratulations." Keith smiled and I grinned. "Amanda told me that you were breaking records left and right on the team back in Alliance."

I rolled my eyes. "She lied." I told him before looking to Karen. "Aunt Amanda has a habit of...exaggerating."

"So you didn't break any records?" She asked.

"Oh, no. I did break records." I confirmed and Karen and Keith looked to each other, both clearly amused. "But it was only one; I beat the school record for the backstroke, but only by seven seconds." Karen sat a mug in front of me and filled it with coffee. "Thanks." She gave me a smile before disappearing into the kitchen. "And while I did want to share my news, I actually came to talk to you."

Keith seemed surprised. "Me?" I nodded. I understood why he was a bit confused; while Keith and I were close, I had been spending a lot of time with Deb, Karen and people my own age. Something I never really did in Alliance. I always seemed to gravitate towards people who were either younger or older than me. "Well, what do you need?"

"Advice." I began. "I think I messed things up with Nathan."

Keith furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I've only been in Tree Hill for a few weeks." I reminded him as I looked down at my coffee cup."And, in that bit of time, I've been getting to know my brothers, but..."

"But what?"

I sighed and looked up at him. "Do you think it's unfair of me to try and get Nathan and Lucas to be friends?"

"Where is this coming from?" Keith asked. "I mean, Nathan and Lucas don't really talk. Other than basketball, they don't have anything in common."

"They have me in common." I pointed out. "And I don't think it's so bad that I'm trying to get them to talk to one another. I mean, it's not like I'm pushing them to act like they're best friends. I just want them to be…civil. Is that really too much to ask?"

Keith sighed. "It's not." He assured me. "But you have to remember; Nate was raised by Dan and that gave him a big head and Lucas…Lucas can be a stubborn ass when he wants to be. I'm not saying it's okay, I'm just saying that's how things are."

I picked up my coffee cup. "Do you think that things could change? Between them, I mean." Keith looked thoughtful for a moment before he answered.

"I do." He nodded. "But it would take time and they'd have to want it." That sounded like wishful thinking.

Sighing, I propped my chin up with my free hand. "Can't I just lock them in a room together until they learn to like each other?" Keith chuckled.

"If only."

Keith ended up leaving a few minutes later and I stayed to finish my coffee. I was thinking about ordering something so I wouldn't have to go back home for dinner when Peyton waltzed into the cafe.

"Hey," I greeted as she sat down in Keith's vacated seat. "What are you doing here? Looking for my brother, you horny cheerleader?"

"I deserved that." She nodded and I learned a new fact about myself; I was protective of my brothers. Go figure. "I actually came to talk to you. Lucas said you might be here."

"Okay..." Not sure why she'd need to talk to me. "What do you need?"

"I wanted to talk to you."

"About Lucas?" I asked warily, hoping she'd say no.

"About Haley." She corrected and I was sure the confusion was on my face. Haley and I were friends, but I didn't know her that well. I _had_ only been in town for a few weeks. "Last week when Brooke and I went to the basketball teams away game, we ended up giving Haley a ride home. This was before we picked up Lucas and Nathan."

"Okay," I still wasn't understanding.

"Anyway," Peyton continued, pushing her curly blonde hair behind her ear. "Brooke took some pills that the school's nurse gave her and she was kind of...wonky for most of the ride. While she was out, Haley and I were actually getting along; I mean, she was fun and a bit goofy and she didn't turn everything into a joke like Brooke usually did."

"So you clicked." She nodded. "I'm not seeing the problem."

"The problem is...I don't know how to do it." I didn't know what that meant. "I like her and I want to be her friend, but things are weird because-" Now I understood.

"Because high school." I finished and Peyton nodded again. "Don't do this to yourself." I sighed and she quirked an eyebrow. "Don't let other people decide how you're gonna live your life because they have no say over what you do or who you hang out with. If you want to be friends with her, just be friends." I said. "Why does it matter what people would think? It's only weird if you make it weird."

Peyton fiddled with the sugar dispenser. "Well, it's kind of too late for that. I've basically been ignoring her."

"That's fine." I assured her. "Haley'll understand; she's Haley."

* * *

The next day at school was more or less the same; I went to class, felt guilty about Nathan, subbed for Brooke at her cheerleading practice, felt guilty about Nathan, I went to the rest of my classes and then- you guessed it- felt guilty about Nathan. But, unluckily for me, I managed to throw some embarrassment into my day too.

Because I was on the swim team, I was obligated to join the track team because it was supposed to help with my breathing or something or my legs- one of the two. I didn't mind either way, but that's before I found out running only a mile in fifteen minutes wasn't exactly encouraged.

So there I was; slowly jogging around the gym with almost all of my teammate already finished and the rest almost there and I was nowhere near done. I never really thought of running as big part of swimming but what did I know? Either way, I was the only one drenched in sweat, close to passing out and a major storm going on inside me- and I didn't mean my guilt over pushing Nathan to be friends with Lucas. I felt like I had a literal storm in my stomach and I was pretty sure I was about to keel over.

Giving up, I ducked into the gym as soon as I passed the door and made my way to the girls locker room. Unfortunately, I was forced to go to one of the bathrooms inside the school because all the girls from the swim team were occupying almost every space in the locker room.

"Oh, God..." I groaned as I locked myself inside of a stall. "I knew those tacos were a bad idea. Haley told you that they had been there since last week, but did you listen? No...no, you didn't, because you wanted a freakin' taco!" I berated myself. It wasn't until I situated myself to defile the girls bathroom that I realized that the tacos were not what was causing my stomach ache.

"Oh, my God..." Could my day really get any worse? I had a stitch in my side, a MMA fighter inside my stomach and blood in my underwear. This could not be happening- not here and most definitely not now.

What was I possibly supposed to do? I didn't have a pad or a tampon and, after a quick look, there was a large dark red stain in the back and crotch area of my shorts. Whoever's idea it was to make them such a light color was obviously not a woman.

I was planning on sitting there a little longer and trying to figure out how I was supposed to get all the way to the girls locker room without being seen when I heard the door to the bathroom open. I immediately stilled and quieted down my whining, hoping that whoever was inside wouldn't stay long or, at least, I was before I heard the familiar sounds of mumbled singing.

"Haley?" I asked and the humming stopped.

"Nat?" I heard her get closer to the stall. "Are you okay in there?"

"I'd say yes, but that'd be a lie."

"I told you not to eat those tacos."

"I know you did, but this has nothing to do with them." I assured her. "The problem is kinda coming from the other side."

It was quiet, mostly because I figured that she was trying to figure out what I meant. I could hear the moment she figured it out. "Oh! You mean-"

I nodded, even though she couldn't see me. "Yes, that's what I mean and I don't have a pad or a tampon, or whatever you're supposed to do to fix it. There's blood all over my gym shorts and I left my gym bag in the girls locker room."

I heard Haley rummage around her bag. "I don't have anything either. I'll be right back."

"Wait, Haley don't-" But then I heard the door click shut. She was gone. "Go."

Seeing as I had no other option, I sat and waited for Haley's return. When she finally did come back, I could tell that she wasn't alone.

"Nat," Haley called, her voice getting nearer until I could see her sneakers under the door of the stall. I couldn't see the shoes of whoever she was with. "I brought Peyton."

"Well, unless she moonlights as a period fairy, I don't see how that's gonna help." I was being snippy and I knew it. Unfortunately, I couldn't find it in me to care.

"Uh," I heard rustling, like someone was rummaging through a bag. "Here." Two converse clad feet stepped beside Haley's before a hand reached over the stall door holding a small wrapped stick. After carefully lifting myself up from the toilet I took it and unwrapped it to find a plastic stick that was thicker on one end.

"What the hell am I supposed to do with this?" I asked immediately and it suddenly got quiet. "Hello?"

"You don't use tampons?" I heard Peyton ask in question and I sighed. This was about to go from slightly mortifying to making me contemplate moving to Mexico and changing my name to Manuela.

"...This...might be my first period." I admitted reluctantly. "Ever."

I didn't know Peyton well. The few things about her I did know made a strong case that she was a good person, but good people laughed at messed up situations all the time. How was I to know whether or not she would laugh at my predicament or tell anyone and everyone she could get to listen?

"Nat," I heard her say. "You may not like this, but I think we might have to get Brooke."

And that's how I ended up with three different girls in the bathroom while I had my first ever period. I honestly thought it was going to be the most embarrassing thing that I ever had to go through in my life, but it wasn't that bad, to be honesty.

After Peyton retrieved the clean pair of underwear she was going to use for after cheer practice, I put on the pad and came out of the stall. Then Brooke explained to me how to use tampons while Peyton went out and got me some Tylenol from Brooke's locker and Haley kept everyone out of the bathroom. I don't know what she was saying to them, but whatever it was, was doing the trick.

Peyton drove me home afterwards since school was over, but not before we stopped by Karen's Cafe because she wanted to talk to Lucas.

"What're you doing here?" Karen asked as I took a seat at the counter. Peyton had gone straight to the table where Lucas was reading.

"I'm on my way home," I told her, willing my body to relax. Periods were not comfortable. "My ride needed to make a pit-stop."

Karen noticed the way I was holding myself so stiffly. "Are you okay?" She asked and I nodded.

"I'm fine." I assured her. "I'm just...a little uncomfortable." Maybe it was the way I was acting or the way I was sitting, but Karen seemed to realize what I was talking about pretty quickly.

"Oh..."

"And it's my first." That was unnecessary to share.

"Yeah, your aunt mentioned that your Aunt Flo hadn't come yet." I stared at her in a mix of shock and confusion.

"You've talked to Amanda?"

Karen nodded. "Your mom and I used to be close when we were in high school." She said as an explanation.

"So close that your boyfriend slept with her?" That was rude. What was wrong with me this week? "Sorry," I apologized. "Things have been..."

"I get it." Karen assured me. "But, yeah; your mom and I were close and, after she had you, Amanda and I started talking on the phone. We wanted to get you and Lucas together a couple of times, but things kept coming up- and then your mom asked Amanda not to let you see Lucas anymore-"

"Wait, what?" I demanded and Karen stopped and stilled. "She told Amanda not to let me see Lucas?"

"I thought you knew?" She said and I shook my head. "She said that you called her and said that you didn't want to see Lucas anymore because you thought he was mean." She shook her head. "I asked him what he did to you at the party and he wouldn't tell me so I wouldn't let him go to the Rivercourt with his friends for an entire week. I'm pretty sure he still hates me for that." She added as an afterthought.

I straightened up as I processed the information I had just been given; My mother called Amanda and told her not to let me see Lucas. My mother lied and purposely kept me away from Lucas. My mother didn't even see me more than twice a year since the disastrous idea of Amanda's to have me with with my mother and she had the nerve to keep me away from Lucas...My mother was, single-handedly, the reason I had such a sucky relationship with my brother.

"Natalie..." Karen began as I sat there, still. "Whatever reasons Joanna had, I'm sure they-"

"Please don't." I cut across as I stared at her. I was barely holding back my tears and I was sure that if I moved my eyes or even blinked once, they would all come rushing out. "Whatever excuse you want to make, don't; Keith and Amanda have spent ten years making excuses for her and I won't listen to them anymore."

"Nat-" Karen said as I got out of my seat.

"Sorry, I've got to go." I insisted before rushing out of the diner like a bat out of hell.

* * *

"I can't believe she would do something like that!" I yelled as I paced in my room.

After walking home and crying my eyes out, my attitude had taken a turn; instead of being sad and weepy, I got upset and pissed. Seeing as how I felt guilty by even standing next to the guy, Nathan was a no when it came to people I could talk to. I couldn't go to Lucas without picturing him, Peyton and Brooke in some weird sex triangle and there was no way I was going to either Dan, Deb or Keith, so that left only one person.

"Maybe she had a really good reason?" Haley suggested and I scoffed as I pulled at my hair.

"Who knows?!" I exclaimed. "I haven't spoken to her in almost two years! When she ditched me at some mother/daughter retreat that _she_ insisted we go to! Who knows why she does anything she does?!"

"Well, then maybe you should tell her how you feel." I scoffed. "I'm serious, Nat. Call her and ask her why she did what she did. She'll talk to you if you talk to her."

I turned around and started pacing the other way. "That may work with your hippie parents, but it won't work with my mother; she'll talk _at_ me and insist that I did call her and say the things that I didn't say. Joanna Rhodes is a liar and she's the worst kind of liar because she won't admit when she's wrong. She will literally tell a million lies just to prove that her first lie was the truth!" Frustrated, and with a pounding head, I stopped pacing and just got down on the floor. I laid there on my back, staring up at the ceiling for a few moments as I willed my headache to go away. "My head hurts and I want to hit something."

Haley stared down at me, unaffected by my need to lay on the floor. She even got down there with me. "That's your period." She said and I turned my head to look at her. "It heightens your emotions and stuff; it's basically like being a werewolf during a full moon." So I could count on a lifetime of this until I become unlucky enough to hit menopause? Great. "I was serious about talking to your mom, Nat; you two've got unresolved issues and they're not going to go away until one of you tackles them head on."

"That's if she'll even listen." I sighed. "She never hears anything I say- and that's assuming I get past her man-boy assistant."

"What about an E-Mail?" She suggested. "You've got her address, right?"

"Yeah, but-"

"No buts." Haley interrupted and I chuckled. "Really mature."

"You have mail." An electronic voice informed me and I sat up with a groan.

"What was that?"

"My E-Mail." I stood up and grabbed my latop off of my vanity dresser before sitting down on my bed, tucking my leg underneath me. Haley plopped down next to me only a second later as I opened the E-Mail. "It's from my Aunt Amanda." I told her as I read. "The construction company hit a snag in the house."

"What house?"

"My house- well, mine and my moms. She bought a foreclosure and hired someone to fix it up. It was supposed to be done before I moved here, but they were behind." I told her before I kept reading. "There are a few things they need a decision on before they can continue. My mom's got some super important meeting and can't spare a few moments out of her _busy_ schedule so I have to go down to the house tomorrow." I sighed. "I'm gonna have to ask Nathan to borrow his car."

"Your dad has a dealership and you don't have a car? Haley questioned.

"Keith always promised that we'd find one I liked as we'd fix it up together." I didn't mention the fact that I didn't even have a drivers license. Amanda had begun teaching me how to drive around my fifteen birthday, but we never got around to getting me an actual license.

"That's nice." Haley smiled and I smiled too. It was a nice little moment that we were having- that is, until a familiar, slightly raspy voice interrupted.

"Are you two about to make out?" Haley and I both looked to the doorway of my bedroom where Brooke stood in all her...Brooke-ness. "Because that would honestly be a twist I didn't see something."

"What are you doing in my house, Horny Hannah?" I asked as I closed my laptop and set it aside. How did she even get in? Neither Dan or Deb were home and Nathan had practice.

Brooke opened her mouth to answer, but didn't get a chance before someone else joined her in the doorway. "You said you were going to the bathroom." Peyton said, looking at her friend accusingly. What was happening?

"I got lost?"

"Sure you did." I decided to cut in.

"Not that I'm not happy to see you," I interrupted and they both turned to face me. "But what are you doing here?"

"Well," Brooke started, not giving Brooke a chance to speak. "We were at P. Sawyer's house watching Carrie and that made me think of your little...predicament at school earlier." I closed my eyes and willed my face not to heat up. Was she always so blasé?

"Get to the point." Peyton ordered and I was thankful.

"We want to take you shopping." Brooke continued when I reopened my eyes. "Seeing as how today was your first...you know, we figured you wouldn't have anything other than what Deb had laying around the house and- to be honest- I'm pretty sure she's hit menopause already so whatever she does have is probably older than the dinosaurs."

I tried not to roll my eyes. "You do realize that Deb is only thirty-four, right?"

Brooke did roll her eyes. "Still," She insisted. "She's probably got some huge, granny panty tampons." She grinned mischievously. "I hear that Nathan's got a huge head."

I furrowed my eyebrows as Peyton sighed. "I don't understand."

"Yeah," Haley added. "Neither do I."

"Trust me, you don't want to." Peyton assured us.

Brooke gave me another pad so I could take another shower and change my clothes before we left. I really wanted to spend my time with the girls, but my mind wouldn't shut off for the hours that we were together; all I could think about was my mother and the most I thought about it, the angrier I got. I knew that Peyton, Haley and Brooke noticed, but they were nice enough not to say anything- Well Peyton and Haley were.

"Okay, what's wrong with you?" Brooke demanded from where she sat across the table from me. After getting my...supplies, Brooke had decided that she was hungry and, if she was hungry, we were all hungry. That's how we ended up at Karen's Cafe. Peyton kept looking around nervously, like she was waiting for something to jump out and attack her.

I shook my head as I picked up my water. "What do you mean?"

Brooke gave me a look. "You've been brooding for that past three hours." She informed me. "Spill." I looked to Peyton for help reigning her friend in, but she was too busy looking around the cafe for, what I now realized was, my brother. I then looked to Haley who sighed and put down her fork. I took that to mean that she was about to help me.

I was wrong.

"Nat found out her mom told her aunt not to let her see Lucas when she was a kid." I gaped at her.

"Wait, she did what?" Peyton asked, finally pulled away from her surveillance of the cafe.

"Seriously, dude?" Haley shrugged. I sighed and Brooke looked at me expectantly. I realized that my only choices were either to get up and leave or woman up and tell her. "I was talking to Karen earlier when Peyton and I stopped by here after school." I told her. "She didn't even realize that I didn't know. She said that my mom called my Aunt Amanda and told her that I called and said I didn't want to see Lucas anymore."

"And I thought my mom was messed up." Brooke scoffed.

"Your mom is messed up." Peyton assured her before looking to me. "Did you talk to her about it?"

"Why would I?" I shrugged. "The last time I tried to talk to her about something serious she ditched me at a hotel."

"Your mom suck." Brooke said and I nodded in agreement. "Let's crash her car!"

I shook my head. "She doesn't live here." I told her and she deflated. "Plus, Haley thinks I should talk to her; tell her how I feel."

"And you should." Haley took over. "She's your mother. Even if she doesn't listen now, she'll have to eventually."

* * *

Haley's words stuck with me for the next couple of days. She was right, eventually my mother would have listen to me- even if she didn't want to.

So there I sat; on my laptop at midnight trying to figure out what to write. Haley had said to be honestly, to tell her how I really felt. The problem was that I didn't know how I felt at the moment; I had long since lost the anger and frustration that I had felt earlier in the week and I refused to admit that she made me cry when she had her man-boy assistant to call me instead of doing it herself. There was no way my pride- or my ego- would let me do that.

Looking away from my laptop screen, my eyes caught the picture that sat on my nightstand; it was one of the few pictures that I had ever taken with her. I had been only three years old and my mother had just graduated college and had yet to become the career focused woman she was today. The picture was of us both sitting on the bench swing in the back yard of my grandparents house. According to Amanda, I had loved that thing.  
Anyways, Amanda had come to Tree Hill from Alliance to help my mother pack. They had taken a break and my grandmother had seen my mother and I on the porch swing and gone out to take the picture. Neither of us had noticed.

There was no way I could write the E-Mail that I needed to; I couldn't write all the things that I was actually feeling, knowing that they would hurt my mother. She might not have raised me and she might'v disappointed me a few times too many, but I still loved her.

So I sat there, on my computer at midnight and wrote two pages of lies to my mother; I played up m friendship with Brooke, Haley, and Peyton, lied about how Nathan and I had been getting along and made up a cockamamie story about Lucas and I having a great relationship. The truth was, I probably had a better relationship with Nathan than I did with Lucas at the moment, and that twas saying something.

After finishing my lies, I didn't know how to end my letter. There was no way I was going to write _Sincerely_ or anything professional like that. Instead, I decided to put, at least, one truth in my letter.

 _\- I miss you, Natalie_

Then I pressed send.


	3. Ever So Sweet

Emily Van Camp as Natalie Keith Scott

Vanessa Morgan as Brianna "Bird" Taylor

* * *

"What does Lucas usually do after school?" I asked Haley as I sat down at her table. It hadn't been a wild guess that she'd be in the tutoring center. Nathan had mentioned, in passing, that she was tutoring him. He hadn't even been talking to me when he said it. He hadn't spoken to me since Monday.

Haley seemed a bit startled, but I couldn't blame her. I had just sat down, she hadn't even known I was there before I began speaking. "Uh, I don't know." She said. "It's Wednesday, so he might be at the River Court."

I nodded. "Great, thanks." I got up and made my way towards the door, but turned back a second later. Dropping into my seat, I startled Haley once again. "What's the River Court?"

"It's where Lucas and some of our friends play basketball." She told me. "It's right next to the river, hence the name. Just cross the bridge and you can't miss it." I nodded. "Why?"

"Well, I was writing a letter to my mother last night- per your advice." I left out the fact that it was a letter of lies. "And I realized that I have a better relationship with you, Brooke and Peyton than I do my own brothers, which is kind of pathetic. Since my relationship with Nathan is negative zero because of my stupid mouth, I figured I'd take a shot and see if I could try and be a good sister to my older brother."

"Or..." Haley stretched out. "You could apologize for whatever happened between you and Nathan." I pretended to think about it before shaking my head.

"One brother at a time." I decided before leaving the table and I heard Haley sigh as I left the tutoring center.

* * *

Since I didn't have a car of my own yet, I got Peyton to drive me to the River Court since she knew where it was. I invited her to come with me to see Lucas, but she just shook her head before telling me to have fun and driving off. I wasn't exactly sure what was going on with those two, but I wasn't anxious to figure it out.

"Hottie incoming." I heard as I neared the River Court where there were four guys playing basketball and two sitting in the stands with a girl. Lucas stopped where he stood on the court and turned. I could swear he grimaced when he saw me.

"That is not a hottie." He told the boy who spoke, tossing him the ball. "That's my sister." Lucas jogged over to me as I stepped onto the court. "Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Well," I started. "In my mission to get closer to both of my brothers and turn them into BFF's in the process," He grimaced again. "I screwed up with Nathan, so I came here to see if I would have better luck with you."

"How'd you know where I was?"

"Haley," He nodded. "Are you gonna introduce me to your friends or am I gonna have to keep standing here while they ogle at me?" Lucas furrowed at his eyebrows and turned around to see one of his friends- the bigger one he had tossed his ball to- making kissy faces at me. With a sigh, he turned back to me.

"Do I have to?"

"You better," I told him as I hooked my arm with his sweaty one. "Or I'll tell your mom you're being mean and she'll ground you again." Lucas sighed once more before pulling me over to his friends.

"Guys," He began, albeit, reluctantly. "This is Natalie...my sister. Natalie, these are the guys."

"Wow, I don't even get a name?" The muscular black one asked before looking at me. "I'm Skills,"

"Who gave you that nickname?" He grinned at me.

"You know-"

"No, she does not know," Lucas interrupted. "And it wasn't even in the way you're insinuating; you got that nickname when we were ten and you projectile peed in a bottle two feet away." Ew.

Skills' face scrunched up. "C'mon, man!" Lucas ignored his friend as he introduced me to the other as fast as possible. "That's Junk," Junk was the heavy set one who had been making kissy faces at me. "Fergie," Fergie was the only other black guy and he was much lankier than Skills. "Jimmy," Jimmy was fatter than Junk, but he seemed much more reserved from what I could tell when I smiled at him and he quickly looked away. "Mouth," And what an accurate nickname it was; Mouth was the thinnest of all the boys and was the epitome of the word geek. He, however, seemed very friendly and gave me a smile. "And Bird." Bird was the girl who sat at the top of the stands. She was black, but had a slightly lighter skin tone than Skills and Fergie. Her hair was light brown with pink dyed into it and she wore a light blue tracksuit similar to the one Brooke had loaned me before. She held up a peace sign. "She's Skills' sister."

"Come on," She waved me up. "Haley and I usually get banished up to the top row while the boys play." I began climbing up the bleachers and the boys went back to playing while the other two- Mouth and Jimmy- continued on with the faux commentary thing they had going on. "You know," Bird began. "Lucas never mentioned he had a sister."

"Yeah, well, Lucas and I were never close," I still felt bitter when I thought about what my mother had done. "We've actually only met once before I moved here- I lived in Alliance with my aunt." Bird and I fell into an easy, comfortable silence as we watched the boys play, but we eventually got bored and Bird suggested we force our way into the game. "Don't worry," She said as she went down the stands and I followed her. "Haley and I do this all the time." She jumped off the third row and landed right by Skills who she skipped past and stole the ball from.

"Really?!" He sighed and she put on a face of faux-surprise.

"Oh, I'm sorry," She apologized insincerely. "Did you want this? See, I didn't think you did since you were playing like a little bitch."

"Hey," He pointed a finger as her as he started towards her slowly. "What did mom tell you about calling me a bitch?" I should've known they were siblings.

"Not to let her hear me say it!" Skills ran at his sister only for Bird to dodge him and run up to the closest basket and toss the ball in. "And, as usual, Bird beats her little bitch brother!"

"You're older by one minute, Brianna!" Bird gasped.

"I know you didn't just call me Brianna, Antwon!" Grabbing the ball from where it was still bouncing, she threw it at Skills who immediately caught it, causing him to be off guard when he was tackled by his sister. The ball bounced and I grabbed it, turning to Lucas.

"What do you say?" I asked, bouncing the ball. "Two on two; brother vs. sister."

If anything, Lucas seemed annoyed. "I say-" He took the ball before I even realized what was happening and shot it into the basket behind my head. "You better bring better game than that." He did not...

"Ladies and gentlemen, it seems that an challenge has been issue between the two Scott siblings." I heard Mouth announce from the stands. I wondered if that was his thing; commentating when no one was there to listen. "Lucas Scott and Skills Taylor versus Natalie Scott and Bird Taylor; this is the place to be as the two pairs of brothers and sisters square off..."

* * *

"So, who won the game?" Karen asked as we made our way through the store.

Even though Brooke and Peyton had taken me shopping for sanitary products the other day when they Mission Impossible'd their way into my house, I wasn't able to use the stuff we got as I wasn't entirely comfortable using tampons just yet- even though they had taught me how to use them. There was no way I was going to ask Deb, Dan, or Keith to drive me to the store for period pads, so I called Karen who- at the moment- was the only adult I felt comfortable doing this stuff with.

I had just been regaling her with the tale of Lucas and my's legendary basketball game when she asked me that question. "You know, we were all having so much fun that we weren't really keeping sco-"

"Lucas told me that you lost," That traitor.

"Only because Bird kept tripping Skills and calling him a bitch." I defended immediately. It was as if those two hadn't ever grown out of the sibling rivalry part of their childhood. "Thanks again for coming with me. I couldn't exactly ask Deb for help."

"Why not?" I shrugged.

"I don't know," I admitted. "I just...I don't really know her like I do you. I mean, I met her before when I was a kid, but that was only for a couple of hours before she and Dan went out and I know that I never met you before I came to Tree Hill, but I felt like I already knew you." I told her. "My aunt was always telling me how you and my mom were inseparable- plus, Keith couldn't shut up about you."

That seemed to surprise her. "Really?"

I nodded. "He talked about you so much that I thought you were his wife or, at least, his girlfriend. I mean, it's like he knew everything and anything there was to know about Karen Roe."

"We're close," Karen smiled. "Your father was never really in Lucas's life, so Keith stepped up; he taught him how to fish, how to ride a bike, let him know that it was okay to climb into bed with your mom if you're scared- you know, things fathers are supposed to teach their sons. I honestly don't know how Lucas would've turned out if it wasn't for him."

"I kind of think it's the other way around." I said and she looked at me. "I know Uncle Keith used to have a drinking problem- I mean, he managed to hide it for the couple of days a month that he visited me- but he straightened all that out because he needed to be a good role model for Lucas, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. I always think about how Keith would've turned out if it weren't for Lucas." By the look on her face, I could tell that Karen't hadn't really thought about it that way before, but she was now and so was I- well, the other way; how would Lucas turned out if it weren't for Keith? Would he be a huge douche with a heart of gold like our brother? Or would he just be so full of resentment and anger at Dan that he'd be something worse? It made me remember what Nathan said during my first week in Tree Hill; _"I think that's why I'm such a dick to Lucas; he got raised by the good brother."_

"They're good for each other," Karen finalized and I nodded.

"Yeah," I agreed. It was better to leave it at that.

* * *

My conversation with Karen got me thinking about my conversation with my mother- or my lack of. I hadn't spoken to her in so long and the last time I reach out to her, I sent her an E-mail full of lies. Maybe Haley was right; maybe I should've just told her the truth about everything.

So, I did. I told her about how I was getting closer to Nathan and then screwed that up and I told her how I was getting closer to Lucas and was trying not to screw that up; I told her about the new friends that I had made; I told her how things in Tree Hill were nothing like I expected; I told her how I met Karen and how I was pissed about her being the reason I didn't have a relationship with Lucas, growing up; I told her how pissed I was about the fact that I hadn't seen or talked to her in almost a year and the only contact I had was her was an unanswered E-Mail and a talk with her boy-man assistant- I told her everything and anything that came to mind.

I was up all night writing and I ended up falling asleep at my desk where I was writing this four page letter all by hand. When I woke up the next morning I didn't think about getting something to eat or going to the bathroom, I just continued my letter because, when I saw it, all the feelings I had experienced the night before while writing had come rushing back. Then, like before, I ended my letter with the same truth as last time; that I loved her.

Grabbing an envelope from Dan's office, I folded the papers inside before sealing it and scrawling out the names and addresses on the front. It wasn't that hard to get them from the boy-man assistant once I made it clear I'd keep calling and disrupting his work until he gave me what I wanted. He- after the fifth call- told me that my mother was staying at a hotel in Hong Kong and would be there for the next two weeks doing whatever it was that she did. When I saw her- _if_ I saw her, I'd have to ask what it actually was that she did for a living.

After putting a stamp on it, I left the house- passing Deb on my way- and went up the driveway towards the mailbox. Luck was on my side that day, permitting me to show up at the exact same time as the mailman- well, woman, technically.

"Hello," She greeted as she dug into her bag. "You live here?"

I nodded. "Yeah, for the next month at least." That was an unnecessary amount of information to give to a stranger. Thankfully, the woman did dwell on it. Instead, she gave me a polite smile before handing over the mail; a Vogue magazine, three bills, a piece of junk mail, and a large manila envelope for me...from my mother...

Furrowing my eyebrows, I opened up the envelope and pulled out the papers inside.

 **PETITION FOR REMOVAL OF MINORITY**

Emancipation papers...this was her big fix for not coming to Tree Hill when she promised she would? Emancipation papers? I could barely contain my disbelief and confusion and...whatever the hell else I was feeling as I flipped through the pages; she had already filled everything out. All that was left was for Dan and I to both sign our own signatures... _what the hell?_

The mail carrier was oblivious to my state of shock. "Do you have anything for me, hon?" She asked and I looked up from the papers, just barely registering the thick envelope under the mail she had given me.

"N-" Shaking my head, I cleared my throat. "No, I don't. Thank you." She gave me another smile before continuing on down the sidewalk to the next house. Feeling numb, I turned around and made my way back to the Scott house.

* * *

 _ **Okay, I'm not going to lie to you guys, this was a filler chapter. I haven't updated in a very long time, but there wasn't anyway for me to transition from my last chapter to the next while still doing everything that I wanted to do. I hope you don't hate me for it, but leave your thoughts in the box below!**_


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